Friday, April 6, 2012

Sephora + Pantone Universe Color of the Year Collector's Edition Photos and Swatches

I'm a terrible blogger. I haven't blogged in months. I sort of...lost interest to be honest! I couldn't take good photos, frustrated myself, and just never tried again. I'm such a quitter sometimes! The Sephora + Pantone Universe collection is quite interesting to me, so I wanted to at least post randomly about it.

After playing around with this set for a couple days, I don't regret spending $68.00 on all the items. However, I wouldn't buy these products individually (except for the blush duo!) With the exception of the eyeshadow quad, the products are great but definitely not worth the price point they've been positioned. Per ounce, most of the products are more expensive than say MAC for a Sephora house brand which I'm not too comfortable with. If you see something you just *have* to have, go ahead and indulge! But take your purchase with a grain of salt.

By the way, is it just me or does it seem like this is the only year the beauty industry has vocally cared about Pantone's color of the year? Is it because orange can be used on all eyes, cheeks, and lips? I don't understand! Why weren't there collaborations and fusses before? Maybe I'm just losing my mind :P Oh and beware, this post is very photo-heavy.

Overall, the eyeshadow palette is quite lackluster. I wanted to love it since I really liked the packaging, but the quality just isn't there.

Sparrow is a darkened plum with a matte finish. The formula is very sheer but slightly build-able. It has a nice soft, thin texture but the darkened quality of it becomes more prominent than the plum. It's one of those not-so-great dark shades that actually work nicely to define/deepen an eye look, though.

Pavement is a charcoal gray-black with silver sparkle. This is exactly what I imagine pavement to look like! Okay, maybe the sparkle is a bit TOO sparkly. The texture was a bit drier and not quite gritty, but the sparkles definitely have a tangible texture. It's also sheer after one swipe, but surprisingly build-able. This would be brilliant packed atop a blackened base (with a bit of stick) for a dark smokey eye.

Scallop Shell is a white-beige with a satin finish. Such a beautiful shade to look at, but also one that just breaks your heart. It dons one of those formulas that, when layered, just completely swipes away the previous layer. This shade is extremely sheer and impossible to build for complete opaqueness. I mean, some sheer eyeshadows work, but this is that super-loose-doesn't-look-like-an-eyeshadow kind of product. The texture is quite smooth and soft though, so I suppose that's a plus.

Carnelian is an orange-coral with a slight pink sheen and gold shimmer. A bit off topic, but this shade does not depict "carnelian" in any way--not red enough! The texture is dry and thin but soft enough to work and definitely build-able. I think it's supposed to have Sephora's Prisma Chrome formula, which I haven't tested outside the Pantone Universe collection. I like this shade, but definitely not enough to warrant purchasing the quad for it alone.

I really like this blush palette. It has the kind of blush shades that I naturally gravitate toward. I think $26.00 is a fair price for the pair of them alone.

Desert Flower is a lightened orange-coral with a matte finish. It has a very soft, smooth, slightly thin texture. It seems a bit sheer in the powdery sense, but can be built up for a nice level of opaqueness. I imagine it's one of those shades that will, with your skin's natural warmth and oils, translate naturally and beautifully.

Coral is a super pigmented coral-pink (more coral than pink) with a heavy gold shimmer-sheen. SO pigmented. SO awesome. SO gorgeous to look at. I just sat and admired the swatch on my arms for hours (okay, just seconds). The downside is the formula: is has a nice soft texture but it kicks up so much excess powder! I had to SUPER LIGHTLY tap for product but the intense pigmentation makes up for it. This shade is not for the faint of heart.

I think the name is really quite fitting for this blush! To be honest I'm on the fence about whether or not I'd spend $16.00 on this blush alone given the packaging and product size, but it is overall quite a unique shade of blush.

Apricot Brandy is a warm slightly muted golden orange-peach with gold shimmer. As with Sephora's other Prisa Chrome product in this collection, the texture is dry but soft, thin but build-able. With a single swipe the blush is quite sheer, but I find it would be quite a nice cheek highlighter if purposely used sheerly. It's really a beautiful summery orange peach shade.

Tangerine Tango Cream Lipstick is a warm medium brightened orange with a creme finish. It glides on the lips easily with a fair amount of slip and can be built up to opaque coverage. I found, however, that it applies slightly unevenly and takes a steady hand with long strokes (as minimal as possible) for best results. I'm not 100% sure which ingredient it is, but something in the formula feels uncomfortable, kind of like when excess oil touches your lips and you gently inhale. It's a fun, bright color but the formula is too slippery which is why it only wore for about 2 hours before I noticed fading. A decent stain remained, though.

Tangerine Tango Luminous Lipgloss is a warm medium brightened orange with golden shimmer. Again, I like the COLOR of this gloss, but the formula isn't too great. It applies so very unevenly. It's also super thick, kind of like acrylic paint instead of cosmetic gloss. I like the applicator though--it's paddle shaped like Revlon's Colorburst glosses. I LOVE this kind of applicator--enough product remains on both sides of the paddle to ensure full coverage without multiple dips.

Tangerine Tango Twist Eyeliner is an automatic eyeliner featuring a bright, neutral-warm medium orange with silver shimmer and orange sparkle. It's fairly opaque in one pass but a double back of product would be perfect. It's quite a nice orange eyeliner (it's the only one I own!) It's so bright, unique, and fun for the eyes. It's a bit of the drier side but definitely no pulling or tugging during application. My favorite part is how smudge-, budge-, and waterproof it is! Multiple heavy swipes of my makeup remover was needed to get rid of the product on my arm. Love!

3 comments:

So I really want to love this. I like the blush, but I feel like the other products just aren't wearable. I mean how many women in the real world do you see sporting bright orange lipstick? It certainly is a weekend only thing, that's for sure. Sigh...maybe I'm just not adventurous.